Runners tell all: The pebble in my shoe...

Hi y'all!
Today I'm linking up with Amanda @ The Lady Okie and Beka @ Sunshine to the Square Inch for their monthly link up, Runners Tell All! I am super excited to be joining them as I consider myself a runner! Although I have just started back at it...let me tell you, running is my life and during the time I wasn't allowed to run, I was uber jealous of those running in the street for the up and coming race events!

Today I want to tell you about the pebble in my shoe...
Lucky for me, the pebble has been getting smaller.

I'll give you my story because for the past year, I have dealt with what has been a major rock in my foot....plantar fasciitis.
I hate it. I loathe it. I despise it.
It keeps me from running, walking, dancing, and wearing the cute shoes that I love to wear.

I've seen more than a couple of specialists (doctors and physical therapists) that have poked, prodded,  flexed, stuck my foot with needles, rubbed ice, and even electrodes on my foot.

Looking back, it all started when I began training for my half marathon. I probably developed the pain because of poor stretching, too much mileage in short amount of time, poor shoe choices, and the extra poundage I added to my butt.

Well, think about it...extra poundage and I can't even run.  ARGH!!!

Either way...my hands-on physical therapist finally said that he will "allow" me to begin a run-walk program and luckily, I've been on it for the last few weeks. I am beyond excited! I haven't been able to run in over 6 months! It's been a real mood killer and worse when everyone and their mother was training for the ING Miami Marathon which was in February. It will take me a while...but I know I would like to be able to run and do this by the summer...

Morals of the story:
I will train properly by increasing my mileage slowly.
I will stretch before, after, and maybe even during my run.
Wear my cool sneakers to work if I have a plantar fascia meltdown.
Spoil my feet by resting them, roll over iced bottles or spiky balls, give them a warm epsom salt bath, elevate them and use "The Sock" religiously!

Have you had any serious training killers lately?

Got a story to share about your worst race experience or training or what you learn from it? You can still tell us about it! Clink on the image link below!

See you at the finish line!

What a lovely week!!!

Last week was certainly one to remember. I made a conscious effort to go running this week...I made a total of 4 attempts to run/walk! Which is great by the way, considering I've been sidelined for almost a year! I definitely see the difference on the scale and that makes me super duper happy! My goal is 20lbs so I can fit back into the clothes I wore two years ago....let's see how that goes!

And of course, if there is a win...there must be a celebration. Lucky for me, my dear friend Emily was able to have her dad babysit her little Ethan while she and I spent some quality time together sipping on Bellinis (Prosecco sparkling wine and peach nectar). 

Ethan is 21 months old and is such a stud! I couldn't resist his cuteness and surrendered my phone immediately to him. Little did I know, he was having a selfie party all by himself!

How has your week been so far???

TRUE STORY

The Day I Killed 13.1

Wow....wow....wow

I still can't believe I did it.

I still can't believe it happened.

I finally accomplished this crazy dream of mine.

I ran a half-marathon! thirteenpointfuckingone! 13.1 miles!

I freaking did it!

13.1 miles in 2hrs 35mins 

{according to my running app, I ran 13.5 miles in 2:35:55}

What I learned from my first half marathon:

Make sure you test out your gear and your food intake the days of your training runs.

Go to the bathroom as often as you can, before.

Do NOT overindulge on energy gel/Gu...you will feel it later!

Hydrate yourself as much as possible throughout your workout.

Start training slow and allow your goal to be finishing the half alive!

This was a breakdown of race day:

3:45am alarm goes off
4:20am packed my (cheering squad) hubby, sister, and bro-in-law in the car
4:45am met my friends (runners and their respective cheerleaders) at the rail station
5:15am arrive at race location and frantically search for available bathrooms. The port-a-potties line was neverending! Make a mad dash to find the bathrooms at Bayside Marketplace.
5:45am picture time between the runners and the cheersquad
6:00am start whistle blows. Do some quick stretches and say my goodbyes to my cheersquad.
6:10am quickly run to my carril alongside the rest of the boys (I snuck from "I" to "C" and "E")
6:15am make a last fix of my outfit and tie my shoes. Set my iPhone to record...and offfffff I go!!!!!
6:45am make fun of the Korean group that kept stopping to take pictures of themselves. I thought it was awesome and hilarious all together!

The rest of the run was pretty fun! I saw the beautiful sunrise while running through the MacArthur Causeway to ward Miami Beach. Waved goodbye to the cruiseships and the folks out on Star Island. And the rest I remember only because I tried to text dear hubby along the way.

7:19am arrived to 5th and Ocean Drive.
7:45am passed the Miami Beach Golf Course and tried waving hello to my other bro-in-law's building, the two times we passed by it!
8:00am stopped at a port-a-potty for another bathroom stop. By this time, I had already taken advantage of most my water stops! Finally on our way through the Venetian Causeway back to the Mainland.
8:30am arriving back to downtown Miami! Near the Omni Mall.
9:15am finally finished!!! Unfortunately, there were so many people at the finish line (family, friends, runners) that the network was overcapacity. I couldn't communicate with anyone!

Oh yeah, and I may have had one to many "Gu" energy packets throughout the race! Reminder to use less or just pick one flavor/brand for the run. My tummy was extremely angry all day!

Ready or Not, Here I Come!

It's almost that time peeps! 

The big race is around the corner. In less than 24 hours I will have accomplished one of my bucket list items!! 

To run a half marathon...13.1 miles to be exact.

Keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer so that I survive running all 13.1 miles :)

I haven't been able to train the way I would've liked this week. I ran 4 miles on Wednesday and 3 miles on Thursday. I got a yucky cold and have been feeling congested all week. So instead, I trained long enough to not get tired and worsen my condition. I feel I need to be at 100%, this week I've been between 70% and 80%.

Eating...well, I'm trying to make healthier choices. However, I will need to focus today on eating my best. And maybe the morning Krispy Kreme was not the best choice. Heck, I still got a few hours and a kickball game to make it all better!

Today is also dear hubby's birthday celebration so I may or may not be avoiding BBQ food!

Random Thoughts on an 8 Mile Run

so i took two days off from running.

happy hour on friday where pizza and booze flowed
two house parties on saturday where football, music, alcohol, and fried food were king.

needless to say, my 6am time to get up bitch! alarm was completely ignored on sunday.
a couple of hours passed
i rolled to my right and i rolled over to my left.
did a little bit of this:

i finally got up while everyone else was still asleep.
i realized i didn't have a choice: today is the day i would reach mile 8.

running gear on, packed my energy gu and my water.
i definitely did not want to pass out in the middle of my jog.
off i drove towards the nearest golf course.
at least i wasn't the only fool there.
walkers, runners, and cyclists.
oh my!
they.were.everywhere!

gave my self a little pep talk.
i can do this! i can do this!
it's only 2 times around the course
eight miles...eight miles...fuckmylife...eight miles!!

guess i had no choice.
so off i went.

why is everyone staring at me?

mental outfit check: blue socks to my knees, pink shirt, black pants, green headband.

oh

mental note, turn on lights before picking work out clothes.

my pants are giving me a wedgie.
how do i adjust without....err....nevermind
fixed.

stupid shin splints are not supposed to start for another 2 miles.
i'm not even at my first mile

am i going the right way?

where are the walkers so i could feel like the road runner next to them?
this is run waayyyyy easy.

running app says: 17minutes, 0.5 miles
punk'd! i got wayyyyys to go

damn cyclist getting in my way.
he veered into me and i had to move off the road!

awww look at the cute little ducklings
hurry up ducks

that's a cute little pup up ahead
dog pops a squat...aaahhhhh
avoid the poop! avoid the poop!

time for some gu
yummy apple lime gu
time for some water
where's my water bottle
fack
in the car and we're at...mile 4

almost halfway!

stop to refuel

i can do this
breathe into a bag
gather more oxygen into my brain

ok, let's do this...one more time

waaah my knees are hurting
take a deep breath
slow it down...sllllooowwwww it dooownnnn

don't walk, don't walk
oh yeah, get it runner girl

what a pretty building
i definitely don't remember it the first time around

to the woman walking her dalmatian,

pongo better not chase after me

boogies running down my nose
sweat getting into my eye...aaaahhhh
i need a towel

at least the music is pumping
and weeeee are never ever ever ever ever everrrrrrr
i'm sexy and i know it
wheeeerree have youuuu beeeen
you make me feel lalaalalalalaaaaa

i'm almost there!
a little more running.
finally at 7.5 miles
when does it stop?
where is my car?

i'll start walking after the tree,
ok maybe after the closer stop sign
running app: 1hour 30mins, 8 miles
perfect timing!

omg
i made it
i survived
but still, pray for me
i'll be doing 8 miles again this week to prep
next weekend's goal: 10 miles!

Runner Girl 2 - Reaching 6 miles

15.2 miles in 3 days. I think that's a great start, don't you?

Yesterday and today I decided to invite a couple of friends to run at a nearby lake in the morning. Although yesterday was a pretty fun calm run, it certainly did not prepare me for today.

via

Sunday...

The run was freaking tiring but freaking awesome at the same time. I am still recovering from today's run 6hours later! Maybe my motivation was sparked by my friend Eddie, who is also running the half-marathon.

Oh my gawwwd! Thank goodness it was a nice day and overcast! The first part we ran/walked it. We may have skipped a bridge and therefore skipped 2 miles of the 8 miles around the lake. But dude, that second half after that was awesome and a killer! Eddie, Kenny, and I ran most of it! 

It really does help to have people by your side. The boys didn't really want to stop unless I asked them to. They didn't want to be "mitches" or "man-bitches" for requesting to stop before me...ha!

My legs began hurting at mile 5 only because I had decided on some strength training a few days prior and I was still sore. My feet, well, I can't decide the type of socks to wear yet, but I did come out with a blister in between yesterday's and today's run. 

Mental note that for race day: I will need to purchase a couple of compression socks as well as a belt to carry water for my jogs.

Having someone wait for you and tell you "Let's go!" "You can do this" also helps a ton! I usually run on my own because I don't like lagging others or myself behind. So this little bit of encouragement just rocks my socks!

via

Oh yeah, and I was also much inspired by all the other ING runners that were out there training today. They either had a camel pack or their water belts. haha!

I am extremely happy to say that today I completed a 6.09 mile run in 1 hour and 16 mins. Killing a total of 597 calories! Not bad I'd say for a run/walk! 

Let's get this! 

Runner Girl Part 1: The first 2 weeks

On 12.12.12, I finally decided to do it. My friends had been bugging me for awhile and I figured, why not?

I mean, unless I made it official I wouldn't take it serious to begin with, right? And so I did.

I will run the Miami ING Half-Marathon on 

January 27, 2013!!

It only took me 3 years, because I'd always say that running a half-marathon would be my goal for the year in 2009, in 2010...you catch my drift here? I never got the courage to sign up in the past. However, this time I am determined to finish! Well, to be quite honest, I don't think I have a choice. It's either run or be swept by the pick up bus. If the bus picks you up, then you truly are screwed because you won't get that medal. 

Part of this involves training. I don't have a training bone in my body. Ok, I lie, maybe I do. I've ran at least 7 other 5K (3.1miles) races in the last 3 years. So yeah, I've trained before and got super duper skinny because of it. But that only required me to be "training" for 45 minutes, tops. 

Thing is, training for 13.1miles is a lot more work and dedication! It involves running for over 2hours! Just imagine doing that twice weekly at least! Well, I couldn't fathom the work! This is why you now have me here a few weeks from the start date and I am shitting bricks! Luckily, I have a program that requires me to run/work-out 6 times a week. Am I doing it as I should? Probably not. I may have skipped a day or two. The best part is, I am actually doing it! 

I know I will not run the entire 13.1 miles, but what I will complete it with intervals like run 4mins, walk 1min. Whatever...It's a start! Next time I'll zoom myself to one of those Disney Half-Marathon races! Baby steps people!

My very first run towards the 13.1 goal was on December 22.  

It was the perfect "Miami Winter" day. Wish all my running days were like this:

Some days, I have to crosstrain, so I'll head to the gym. Which that equals to no running outdoors...bleh...If only I learned to strengthen my legs a little more so they could withstand the asphalt, life would be grand. I hate weight training though. Any tips on making strength training on my legs fun are highly welcomed!

Yesterday's gym adventures included picking my favorite treadmill (it was an empty gym!), doing my HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), a little elliptical work, and some upper body weight training. 

***Just a heads up, HIIT Training is the BEEEZZZZZ KNEEZZZZZ!!!! I lost sooo much weight and got in amazing shape just by doing this daily and it only takes about 20-25 minutes to burn loads of calories.***  

See:

So long for now...until my next runner girl post...

Have you started with any of your New Year's goals? 

Down & Dirrrrty

My friends and I got mudded at the Merrell Down & Dirty Mud Run course last weekend!
This 5K run was definitely not meant for speed, since we finished it together by using teamwork to get ourselves through the obstacle course. So maybe I didn't win first place, but I got some rad scars to prove I made it. And I am happy to say I rolled in the mud like a newborn piglet; however, I did wear enough layers to keep certain areas, errr, free of mud.